An article published in the journal “Current Biology” describes a genetic research on giraffes and proposes the division of these animals into four distinct species with a number of subspecies. A team of researchers led by Professor Axel Janke, a geneticist at the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Goethe University, Germany, examined the DNA of 190 giraffes across Africa and concluded that there are four highly distinct groups. The consequences of this research could also affect the giraffe conservation attempts.